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Early bird Checkin

johnjanew13
Explorer C

Very frustrated.  Purchased early bird because was not sure i would be able to get on site to do myself in timely manner.  Plus the idea of getting on a little earlier per advertised was nice plus.  Welp I got A51(Early Bird) and my wife got A56 (Didnt do Early Bird).  Really!!  Very disappointed, very misleading,  very much false advertising when it comes to the early seating part of pushing this extra.  Love Southwest but please explain to me other than the you do checkin for me how this service in all other areas is not misleading to the point of false advertising?

2 REPLIES 2

Re: Early bird Checkin

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

I agree Southwest should de-emphasize the better boarding position part of EBCI and push the convience and ease of mind factors instead. Every flight is different so you never know when EBCI will provide a significant boarding position improvement, but it always provides peace of mind. There's no false advertising, it did exactly what it said it would do, you just happened to be among the last EBCI passengers assigned a boarding position.

 

Do you recall how many days before the flight you purchased EBCI? More information would help us all learn more about the boarding position assignment process.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

 

Re: Early bird Checkin

rtbarron
Frequent Flyer A

I get it. You bought Early Bird Check In thinking that you were going to get a great boarding position and are frustrated that you're only five positions ahead of somebody that didn't purchase it. But let's look at this logically.

1. You were assigned a boarding position 36 hours before your flight and did not have to check in right at 24 hours to guarantee that position. In fact, if you had checked in an hour before your flight, you would still have A51 and your wife would still have a worse boarding position than you. This is the primary benefit of EBIC.

2. A51 is better than A56, so you did get a better boarding position. Maybe not as "better" as you had hoped, but better nonetheless.

The primary and secondary benefits of Early Bird Check In that Southwest advertises were both fulfilled in your instance. If you are not satisfied with the benefit that EBIC gave you, simply do not purchase it next time. Personally, the peace of mind of not having to remember to check in 24 hours before my flight is worth $15 to me.